AUGUST 3, 2026 Psalm 145:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever. This psalm began with an emphasis on praising the Lord; it is dedicated as “A Praise of David” (meaning, a song of praise written by David). For the third time in […]
AUGUST 2, 2026 Psalm 145:18-19 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. In consideration that the verse says God will “fulfill the desire of those who fear Him,” why […]
VOE Magazine, 1983
Put On the Whole Armor of God
“Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13).
There are three forms of attacks from Satan, and they can be likened in military terms to:
The experience of temptation, whether directly or indirectly, is a straightforward assault. When the enemy keeps the pressure on, this may be called “oppression”.
A blockade is when the enemy surrounds the area. This implies that, for a period of time, the enemy is surrounding our lives with destructive devices set for the kill. Satan does not possess the area but prevents it from functioning properly.
The invasion or occupation is where the enemy controls our lives, and the person is brought under the control of demonic power. (This can happen when a person willfully rejects the gospel and the touch of God on their lives.)
The attack of temptation can be dealt with as Christ Himself dealt with it. Notice in Matthew 4, at the temptation of Christ, He did not deal as much with the temptations as He dealt with the tempter! We are preoccupied in dealing with our temptations. “Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?” Christ was tempted, but He went to the root of the temptation, Satan, and cut him apart with the word of the Spirit, the Word of God! “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.”
An attack of bondage is less common among Spirit-filled Christians. A bondage is a habit, a way of life, or a personal relationship that has hold on a person, and the strongest resistance cannot shake you free from it.
I am finding more people coming to our crusades who have personal habits in their lives. Is there a remedy? Yes, a thousand times yes! Whatever the habit, I find that loosing the individual according to Matthew 16:19 brings the greatest results.
“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shalt be loosed in heaven.”
We are given the authority from Christ to bind and loose.
Despite what some skeptics say, I have seen this method free many people from bondage in their spirits, especially to an unclean habit controlling their flesh.
The third attack is demonic control. For a person to be delivered, a Spirit-filled Christian would need to cast out the evil spirit(s) by the power of God.
In Ephesians chapter 6, verses 14-17, the apostle Paul gives us a list of the weapons of warfare. Five of these weapons are defensive weapons, and one is both defensive and offensive:
– The helmet of salvation covers the mind;
– The breastplate of righteousness covers the heart;
– Loins gird about with truth will undergird you in battle;
– Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
– The shield of faith will quench the fiery darts of the wicked;
– The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, can protect you from an attack of the enemy, or you can use it on a frontal attack.
Remember, this is not our armor; it is God’s armor! It is not our faith; it is God’s faith. It is not our power; it is God’s power. It is not our gospel; it is God’s gospel. With this in mind, is it any wonder that we can be hindered but never defeated?
This armor must be put on BEFORE you go into battle. Some Christians are caught off guard, and when an attack comes, they are running around trying to gather a piece of armor here and a piece of armor there. They get hit with a fiery dart and then wonder what happened!
Remember this when fighting a spiritual battle of any kind:
Put on the armor and keep it on at all times. It’s as easy to wear as “putting on Christ!”
The following VOE article appeared in Volume 6 No. 3
UNBELIEF… THE ROBBER
I want to tell you about a city that was robbed. From the richest politician to the poorest beggar, each was robbed by unbelief. Matthew 13:53-58 gives the account.
“And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.
“And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, inasmuch that they were astonished, and said, ‘Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?’
“Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then has this man all these things?
“And they were OFFENDED in him. But Jesus said unto them, ‘A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country and in his own house.’ AND HE DID NOT MANY MIGHTY WORKS THERE BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF.”
Jesus’ ministry of healing had great results in Galilee, Capernaum, and round about Jerusalem; but He had very few results in His hometown of Nazareth. Luke 4:16-30 gives us the account of Christ preaching in a synagogue at Nazareth. After telling His audience that Elijah and Elisha were rejected by the Jews, therefore God sent them to minister to Gentiles, the audience rose up to kill Him. They attempted to take His life by casting Him headlong over one of the large rocky cliffs; but Christ supernaturally walked through the midst of them unharmed.
From that moment on (for 3 ½ years) the world saw a great light, but Nazareth dwelt in darkness and ignorance. This city rejected this “hometown boy turned prophet.” They were more concerned with who gave this carpenter’s son this authority, than they were in recognizing God’s power on Christ’s ministry. Instead of Nazareth saying, “Christ is the Messiah. God has honored us and visited our city,” their unbelieving attitude was “Jesus is just the son of Mary and the carpenter, Joseph.” They missed the time of His visitation. They didn’t recognize the Savior in their midst. As a result, they missed seeing firsthand the miracle working power of God in their midst.
Parallel in the Church World
I see this same unbelief prevailing in some circles in the church world. There is a great move of the Holy Ghost sweeping the world like a mighty wind. Many people from the older denominations are receiving the Holy Spirit and operating in the Word of God. Testimonies are being heard of outstanding things occurring, which are coming from God. They are supernatural! Yet, many churches sit back and say, “If God is doing this in the charismatic movement, why isn’t it happening in our churches? If it were real, we would be seeing it, too!”
Friend, it is happening all around us, yet we are becoming like Nazareth and missing the visitation. Many of us Pentecostals have grown up with Him working in our churches. Yet now, many other denominations are passing us by, while we sit back and become critical of those who are claiming God’s gifts in their life. The real problem is this: we have fallen into unbelief. Many of us can’t even listen with faith to a minister, under God’s anointing, tell a true illustration without questioning in our minds, “I wonder if that really happened.”
Some think that because Christ was God’s Son, He could have worked great miracles in Nazareth, DESPITE their unbelief. I do not believe this. One gospel writer said, “He, there (in Nazareth), could do no mighty works, save He laid His hands upon a few sick folks and healed them (Mark 6) Literally, Christ COULD NOT do mighty miracles. Only a few with minor ailments were delivered. Doesn’t that sound like us today? We have people with great needs who need mighty miracles, but only those with minor ailments are receiving. Our unbelief is robbing us of God’s best. There are things God could do for us, but He won’t because of our unbelief.
God Works Through Grace – Yet Through Faith
There are things that God does simply because He exercises great grace upon us to demonstrate His love. I have, on several occasions, seen even drunken sinners be healed by the power of God. I remember in Pearisburg, Virginia when an elderly man wandered into the building from off the street. He was so drunk you could smell him when he entered the back door. That night I had a prayer line for the sick. He stumbled out of his seat to the front. He said, “Can you pray that God will heal me? I cracked several ribs and I’m in severe pain.” I touched his ribs (where he had pointed) and he began to yell. I knew he was really hurt. I said to him, “Sir, I will pray for God to heal you under one condition. If God will instantly heal those ribs, I want you to get saved and accept Jesus.” He agreed. I prayed, and he began to yell and jump up and down. He said, “There’s no pain!” He hit himself in the ribs to prove it. He came back the next night and was sober. He prayed the sinners’ prayer and accepted the Lord!
That man was not healed because of his goodness. He was healed because of God’s grace. Many things God does (even miracles), He does because of His favor upon humanity. He loves people.
Someone may say, “But I serve the Lord, pay my tithes, and have been prayed for, but nothing has happened.” Since you know the Word of God, you should have faith. You already have the grace of salvation and the gift of the Holy Ghost, but you should have faith. Don’t try to receive from God because of your credit account of all the good things you have done for Him. God has already settled the old account! Accept His power and miracles because you BELIEVE in Him and expect Him to do it!
Some people can hear a gospel message and be thrilled about it. Others can hear the same message, and it has no effect upon them. Why? The same sun that melts wax also hardens clay. The same electricity that cooks chicken can freeze chicken. The same gospel that sets men free can cause others to become hardened. It is not so much the Word that does this, as your REACTION to the Word. Your heart’s reaction to God’s Word determines your level of belief.
Relief for Unbelief
There is no sure cure for unbelief. Because we are surrounded by a world which is continually operating off unbelief, it is difficult to continually walk the faith walk, without bits of unbelief attempting to seep into our minds. But here are things we can do to keep unbelief from dwelling in our hearts. You can’t keep birds from flying, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair!
Feed your faith and starve your doubts. If you practice these three simple steps, I believe it will help you not only to overcome unbelief, but keep unbelief from overcoming you!
JULY 31, 2026 Psalm 145:18-19 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. An earthly ruler, no matter how kind and beneficent, cannot help his people if he is not […]
JULY 30, 2026 Psalm 145:17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works. As believers, we readily accept this statement as fact; because God is eternal, sovereign and innately good, He is righteous in everything He does. But to those who don’t believe, His ways are questioned, ridiculed and commonly determined to be […]
JULY 29, 2026 Psalm 145:14-15 The Lord upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season. If we were to summarize the primary theme conveyed in this psalm, a passage from James sums it up the best: “Every good gift and […]
JULY 28, 2026 Psalm 145:11-13 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. One of the duties — you might even say privileges […]
JULY 27, 2026 Psalm 145:8-9 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. In these verses, the psalmist continues to applaud God’s many attributes. In consideration of His eternal and unlimited power, it is likely impossible to say one is greater […]
